Where in Virginia is Graham???

H. Graham Woodlief, president of Media General's Publishing Division may not know about what's happening on his watch - or does he? Does he approve? Has he acted? Did he enjoy his day in Reidsville and will he enjoy his day in Danville Wednesday?

Publishing revenues DECREASED 16.7 percent from the 2007 quarter. Advertisers - particularly Realtors - have expressed some serious interest in finding an alternative publication. There are rumors that The Piedmont Shopper is considering expanding and that another media company is also looking at the Danville area. With The Register and Bee already operating with a skeleton crew in both sports and news and the churnover so high, there's definitely an opportunity for another publication to snatch up some ad dollars.

The community has expressed dissatisfaction with the content, the size (or lack of size) of the paper for months. A weekly - or an established publication like the Shopper who already OWNS the classified ads in town, could easily walk away with a chunk of the market here.

There's a huge untapped African American market as well - with dozens of African American businesses who would do well to have an interested and educated sales team - but with limits on the amount of press - and a need to walk that fine line - how many Black businesses are losing out on equal coverage?

With the Register and Bee's excessive coverage of crime - the only stories Danville hears about are "Black male wearing a hoodie," or "Black male shot," or some similar coverage. Where are the stories about the Black VFW? The slave cemetery behind the Lee Street cemetery and the ongoing efforts to clean that up? Now that Obama has won his race - where's the follow-up? Who are the Black leaders in Danville? Can you name one? Two? Anyone that's NOT on city council?